Rick Nash Trade Has Hurt The New York Rangers More Than It Has Helped

Last offseason, before the lockout the New York Rangers were desperately looking for more scoring due to having that problem in the season prior and being ousted in the Eastern Conference Finals.

When the Rangers found out Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets was available, Rangers GM Glen Sather jumped at the chance. And in the deal to acquire Nash he gave up popular Rangers Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov.

Now you would figure the Rangers stole Nash in that deal since Dubinsky and Anisimov are no where close to the skill level and goal scoring ability Nash possesses, but you would be wrong.

Dubinsky and Anisimov were two of the Rangers’ hardest workers in their memorable season in 2011-12 that ended in the Eastern Conference Finals. Not only that, but Dubinsky was one of the Rangers’ biggest leaders in the locker room and helped out captain Ryan Callahan tremendously in motivating the team.

Last season , now with Nash a Ranger, the team still struggled to score goals and even took a step back as they were eliminated in the second round instead of the third. Okay, it was a lockout shortened season and weirder things have happened.

But now this season, with a new offensive-minded head coach in Alain Vigneault, the Rangers are currently 15-17-1. Not only are the Rangers still struggling to score, but now they are not even showing effort which is something that probably never would have happened with Dubinsky and Anisimov on the team.

Say all you want about Nash’s skill, but that trade two seasons ago has set the Rangers back years. Now we could be heading towards another dark era of Rangers hockey.

Steven Carollo is a New York Rangers and sports writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, add him on Facebook, connect with him on LinkedIn and join his Google network.